


Momentary

by celtic7irish



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Although there is sex, Lowered inhibitions, M/M, No actual intercourse occurs, Please read the notes at the end before reading this story if that might be a trigger, Pre-Relationship, possibly dub-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-24 17:42:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7517398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celtic7irish/pseuds/celtic7irish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been a momentary lapse in judgment that had led to this, Tony was sure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Momentary

**Author's Note:**

> For Science Bros Week 2016 Prompt #4 (July 14): Momentary

It had been a momentary lapse in judgment that had led to this, Tony was sure.  He was rather notorious for his own tendency to rush into things without thinking, so he wasn’t terribly surprised at this turn of events.  Except that Bruce was normally the cautious one, not given to the same kind of recklessness that Tony was.  So why, when he woke up this morning, pleasantly sore in all the right places, was Bruce Banner sleeping next to him, one heavy arm thrown over Tony’s hips?  Going by the general sense of stickiness and discomfort, Tony was nearly one hundred percent sure that the two of them had engaged in sex the prior night.

 

While he sat there, contemplating how badly he might’ve just fucked up his and Bruce’s friendship, there was a knock on the door.  Without waiting for Tony to invite them in – which he had no intention of doing – the door opened and Natasha slipped in.  Tony stared at her.  She stared back calmly, not giving him anything.

 

“I feel like I should maybe cover up,” Tony said at last, though he made no move to do so. Technically, the sheet was still covering up all the important bits.

 

Natasha shrugged.  “You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before,” she replied tartly.  Tony snorted.  “What do you remember?” she asked next, getting straight to the point.  She settled herself into a chair near the bed, completely unconcerned about the two naked men actually _in_ the bed.

 

Tony considered that, glancing down when Bruce shifted, his arm slipping from Tony’s waist to his lap.  Tony wasn’t exactly unhappy about that, but he gingerly reached down and moved Bruce’s arm to the bed.  This was going to be awkward enough when the other man woke up without his hand over Tony’s crotch.

 

“I remember being in the lab.  Then there was a call to assemble.  And then Doombots or whatever – where the hell is Reed, by the way? Did he get sucked into another interdimensional portal or something? Doom is _his_ problem.”  Natasha tossed a knife idly in one hand, and Tony refocused quickly.  “But, uh….I remember destroying the device, and then there was this gas everywhere.  A booby trap, seriously?  And then nothing,” he admitted reluctantly.  He had vague impressions of Hulk, and Cap, and even Bucky, but nothing concrete, and trying to focus on those glimpses just made his head throb.

 

“Yes, a booby trap.  Apparently intended to keep whoever disabled the device pre-occupied while Doom launched a large-scale attack on Washington, D.C.  Which is where the Fantastic Four were, by the way,” she added pointedly.  Tony snorted, not impressed.

 

“So…divide and conquer, fine,” he acknowledged.  “That doesn’t explain how I ended up in bed with Bruce Banner.”  He met her eyes directly, refusing to be embarrassed, despite the fact that it was very, very obvious that they hadn’t been doing anything as simple as just sleeping.

 

Natasha gave an elegant shrug of one shoulder, her expression one of complete disinterest.  “We aren’t sure exactly what the gas was supposed to do – that’s your job – but it seemed to affect people in different ways.  You and Bruce couldn’t keep your hands off of each other.  Steve and James ended up arguing because James kept trying to take care of him.  Sort of makes you wonder how ingrained protecting Steve is in James’ mind, huh?” Natasha mused distractedly.

 

“Not the problem,” Tony said pointedly.  “Obviously it didn’t affect them the same way.  Did anybody else get hit?”

 

Natasha looked back at him archly.  “The rest of us wore gas masks before even attempting to extract you guys.   Steve and James ended up dragging you two out of there, because you couldn’t keep your hands off of each other.  There was a bet on whether you two were going to end up fucking on the floor of the Quinjet,” she teased.  “I won, but only because James strapped your asses in and you couldn’t figure out how to get the buckles undone.”

 

Tony grimaced. “I don’t remember any of that,” he admitted.

 

Natasha nodded.  “I know.  Which is why I’m here instead of Coulson.  Or Steve.”  Tony shuddered at the thought of either of them coming in to give him a ‘talk’ while he was naked in bed with Bruce and covered in sweat and semen and only god knew what else.  Having Natasha in here was bad enough, but she had never looked at him in a sexual manner, and she respected Bruce too much to intentionally make him uncomfortable, so Tony would take her over the rest of their teammates.  Clint would tease them; Steve would lecture him; Coulson would try to make him fill out paperwork; and Thor would, well, be himself.

 

“Okay, so what’s the plan?” he asked, sounding more plaintive than he liked.

 

Natasha stopped playing with her knife and looked at him seriously.  “That depends.  Do you regret what happened?” she asked bluntly.

 

“No. Yes. Well, sort of,” Tony blustered.  Natasha just waited him out, and he took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts.  “Okay, look, I’ve thought about propositioning Bruce before,” he admitted reluctantly.  “But this is not really how I would’ve wanted it to go down.  I mean, I don’t even remember any of it, and that’s a damn shame,” he added, glancing down at Bruce.  Carefully, he ran a hand through the wild, bed-ruffled curls.  Bruce’s head turned, pressing into his hip, and Tony smiled down at him softly.

 

“Tell him that, then,” Natasha suggested softly, bringing his attention back to her.  “You might not have noticed, because you’re both blind idiots, but he’s been pining after you, too.”

 

“He hasn’t,” Tony refuted, then stopped, reconsidering the person he was talking to.  “Wait. Really?”

 

Natasha looked at him like he was an idiot. Which, okay, was fair.  “Yes, really,” she replied, obviously humoring him.

 

Tony relaxed a bit, but only a little.  Bruce hadn’t approached him, and unlike him, Bruce tended to think things through very carefully before becoming to a decision.  In fact, he tended to pick something over and over again, usually to the point where he completely talked himself out of it.  Last night had bypassed all of that, and the implications were just starting to sink in.  He hadn’t been a willing participant.  At all.  Neither had Tony, exactly, but Tony knew damn well that if Bruce had even hinted that he might be interested, Tony would’ve been all over him, so there were no worries on his end.

 

Natasha stood.  “You two need to talk when he wakes up,” she told him – well, ordered, really – and headed for the door.  “Oh, and Tony?” she added, her tone sugar-sweet.  “I think that maybe having the Hulk metabolized the drug or whatever a bit faster for him.  He was the one that made sure you two made it to a bed, after all,” she pointed out.  Before Tony could demand a further explanation, she was gone, and he was left sitting in bed, a warm, welcome body pressed against him from ankle to hip, unsure of what to do now.

 

He turned to look down at Bruce, his hand still in the other man’s hair.  “I’m….no good at this part,” he admitted quietly, if only to himself.  “Usually, I’d be gone – to the lab or the workshop or Stark Industries – before my partner woke up.  Pepper and JARVIS were in charge of throwing them out.  But…a serious relationship?  I’m no good at them.  I mean, I tried, with Pepper, but that didn’t work out.  But I like you, in the I-want-to-stay-with-you-forever-and-try-to-make-this-work kind of way.  And…I may have ruined it already, huh?” he mused softly, his fingers scratching lightly against Bruce’s scalp.  He couldn’t make himself pull away from the other man, not even when Bruce stirred against his hip, one bleary brown eye staring up at him.

 

“Tony, shut up,” Bruce muttered.  “Go back to sleep.”  He shifted, then froze, grimacing.  “No, maybe not,” he murmured, sitting up and raking a hand back through his curls, trying unsuccessfully to tame them a bit.  “Shower.”

 

Tony stared at him disbelievingly.  “That’s it?” he demanded.  “No ‘what the hell happened?’ Or how about ‘that was a mistake, Tony’?  Just take a shower?”

 

Bruce bit his lip, glancing down at his hands before turning his head and meeting Tony’s eyes, visibly bracing himself for the conversation.  “I don’t really know what you’re expecting,” he admitted.  “I mean, Natasha told you what happened.  And she was right.  The Other Guy got hit with the worst of it when we destroyed the device.  And while I knew you were interested, last night wasn’t how I had planned our first time, either.  Though, if it makes you feel better, there was no actual….penetration,” he mumbled.

 

Tony blinked.  “Wait, what do you mean there was no - ?” He shifted.  “Uh, yeah, pretty sure there was penetration there, buddy,” he muttered.

 

Bruce twisted around and fumbled around in the bedding for a moment before coming up with a toy, one of the larger ones that Tony preferred.  He held it up gingerly between his thumb and forefinger.  “Okay, no sexual intercourse between the two of us,” he clarified.  “I was pretty sure that despite your rather passionate pleas, you weren’t exactly cognizant of what was happening.  But since you refused to release me and were rather insistent on getting our clothes off, this was really the only option.”

 

Tony considered that.  Part of him – the largest part – was rather relieved that they hadn’t actually had intercourse, because he’d really like to remember their first time together, and because he really, really didn’t need the guilt that would have come with seducing Bruce while neither of them were in their right minds.  Another part sort of regretted the missed opportunity.

 

“So…we’re good, then?” he asked, cautiously, testing the waters. 

 

Bruce nodded.  “We’re good, Tony.” Then he wrinkled his nose.  “I don’t know about you, but I’d really like a shower,” he added.

 

Tony put on his most seductive smile.  “We can do that,” he agreed easily.  “Would you like some company?” he purred, cranking up the charm.

 

Bruce laughed, his expression lightening.  “Yeah,” he agreed after a moment, almost shy about it.  “I’d like that.”

 

Tony smirked as he followed Bruce into the bathroom, enjoying the view.

 

The next time he saw Doom, he'd be sure to thank him.

**Author's Note:**

> This involves first-time sex as partners under questionable circumstances, though not actual intercourse. While both men are interested in the other, there was no talk beforehand, no conscious decision to have sex on the part of at least one of the partners. So if this might trigger you, please consider this fair warning. I work on the general opinion that both Tony and Bruce would jump each other’s bones the moment the other one indicated interest, but the fact that remains that in this fic, both parties are under a drug of a sort that lowers inhibitions and causes temporary short-term memory loss in one party (Tony). Also, if I tagged this wrong, please let me know and I’ll fix it asap. This hasn’t ever come up in one of my stories before, not in this type of situation, at least.


End file.
